blood sugar? hmmmmm

i notice alot of people drink diet coke or pepsi, diet rockstars to abort theyre cluster, want the caffiene but no sugar

if i eat a candy bar = ch
hostess cupcake = ch

and today i cut the grass sat back and grabbed a can of pepsi . . . = ch

there is a ton of sugar in these items

dont get me wrong i put a decent sized spoon ful of sugar in my 14oz coffee mug in the morning (made with french press to get 98% of that natural caffiene) its florida crystals organic carbon free sugar, so what i piut in my coffee is far different from these sugars in the above items that trigger for me

needless to say i was feelin dam great all day till i drank that pepsi, well had a few sips and the ch came on, i keep kickin it back with the o2, the more water i drink lengthens the interval between the attacks as if im purifying my blood of the unecessary sugar  . . . .

just a thought, an observation

or just some wacky story i thought of while trying to understand this problem we have, maybe thats my problem and not yours as far as ch goes but some thing else to ponder, as if we dont have enough already

. . .and for a lot of people, it's a beer.  "Alcohol can cause hypoglycemia shortly after drinking and for 8-12 hours after drinking."  (Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or ) And hypoglycemia is an abnormally low blood sugar usually resulting from excessive insulin or a poor diet.  So, maybe triggers could be hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia. It would be interesting to research if some CH sufferers are diabetic as well and how that plays into triggers. . . you bring up an interesting point.  And until the answers are found, we really need to look at all the triggers.

It is more of a way our bodies act to different chemicals.

Coca cola, pepsi, mountain dew does not trigger ch for me.

Although salted crackers, sometimes mustard, this one chocolate with waffer in it trigger ch for me.

So many stuff it is weird I also have very sensitive gums around my teeth and sometimes freezing cold on them triggers ch accidentaly and I smack myself for "doh" to myself as in 15 minutes my CH will be full blown one so I sit on O2 kill pain and continue what I was doing.

It must be something with alergens etc the way our bodies react to different stuff.

Speaking of smoking, my husband is trying to quit, but he is very addicted.  Smoking lowers oxygen levels in the blood.  I am thinking that for him, the low oxygen levels are causing hits.  Why else would breathing low level oxygen continuously all night prevent hits all night for him? Has anyone found out how many CH sufferers are smokers?  There seems to be quite a few as I read through this board.  I'm not into demonizing smoking, I think it's a personal choice (not a good one, but still a choice), but if it is determined to be something that triggers CH's, then we really need to own that piece of information and address it.   

A recent survey of CH sufferers says 48% don't smoke.

From what I've read, some say quiting smoking helps their CH, but just as many say it made no difference.

Good luck, Don

When I was first diagnosed with CH I was hypoglycemic.  Over the years I became diabetic.  I've used a lot of sugar, and I've used a lot of artificial sweetners, but I've found blood sugar to have little to no effect on CH. 

I will say though that Aspartame is a trigger for me if used more than just sporadically.  I can handle a couple of Diet Cokes or aspartame in coffee, but if I go beyond that I'll get hit.  The more I use the harder I get hit.  Splenda and Saccharine don't bother me at all.

Jerry

Quote:


Respectfully, no, the reasoning is faulty. You are implying a necessary connection between one addiction and another, rather than the generalized connection which exists between the body, the brain, our neurology and addiction.

Addiction is a complex set of behaviors coupled with cyclic cognitiions and physiological reactions. In other words, just like the CH triggers, we are all different. What tempts me may or may not tempt you. And the way I react to the temptation will not necessarily be the way you react.

There is a difference between addiction and behavioral preference. Addiction, whether to a process or substance, bears some general similarities one to another, but process addictions in particular (those behaviors which effect the production of serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine for example) tend to be peculiar to the individual.

Having said that, there is something recognizable as an "addictive personality." It describes the kinds of behaviors that almost always, although not necessarily, lead to addictions. Things like all or nothing thinking, poor impulse control, obsessive cognitives, etc. The function of addiction is to medicate whatever we are feeling as a substitute for other more productive behaviors, such as intimacy.

Interestingly enough, the same elements noted above are also linked to clinical depression. Since the hypothalmus is involved in all of this, there is no surprise we find CH dudes and dudettes displaying addictive and depressive symptoms.